Gov. Gibbons opposes higher tax to fund jobless claims
(AP) a" Gov. Jim Gibbons says heas opposed to higher taxes on employers to help fund jobless benefits.
The stateas unemployment trust fund will have to begin borrowing $100 million a month from the federal government once its unemployment fund is depleted. State officials anticipate that will happen later this month or early October.
Gibbons says the state is spending $40 million a week in unemployment claims. He also blamed tax increases imposed by the Legislature for adding to Nevadaas record 12.5 percent unemployment rate.
The unemployment fund is supported in part by a tax paid by employers based on worker wages. The average current rate is 1.3 percent on $26,000 in wages.
The stateas Employment Security Council meets Oct. 6 to consider whether the rate should be changed.
Recession may be over according to Fed
WASHINGTON (AP) a" Economic activity is stabilizing or improving in most of the U.S., according to a new government survey, adding to evidence that the worst recession since the 1930s is over.
The Federal Reserveas snapshot of economic conditions backs predictions by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and most other analysts that the economy has started to grow again in the current quarter.
In the survey released Wednesday, all but one of the Fedas 12 regions indicated that economic activity was astable,a showed asigns of stabilizationa or had afirmed.a The one exception was the St. Louis region, which continued to report that the pace of decline in economic activity appeared to be amoderating.a
Industrials, financials pull stock market higher
NEW YORK (AP) a" The stock market extended its gains to a fourth day as the Federal Reserve said the economy was stabilizing.
Industrial and financial stocks led the advance Wednesday, which lifted the Dow Jones industrial average 50 points to 9,547.22 by the closing bell, having been up 80 points earlier.
Stocks briefly surrendered their gains following the release of the Fedas report on regional economies, which also found that consumer spending would rise but only because of car purchases linked to the governmentas brief Cash for Clunkers program.
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SEC defends $33M settlement with Bank of America
WASHINGTON (AP) a" Federal regulators on Wednesday defended their proposed $33 million settlement with Bank of America over bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch. But the Securities and Exchange Commission said the bank didnat waive attorney-client privilege, making it impossible to establish if its executives knowingly breached securities laws.
Bank of America Corp., in its own legal filing, insisted that it didnat waive the privilege and said athere is no evidence that any individual is culpable.a
The SEC reaffirmed as fair, reasonable and adequate its proposed settlement over the bonus affair, which arose after Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 billion in a hastily arranged deal a year ago. The SEC also said there was no factual support to charge individual Bank of America executives in the case.
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Apple CEO Jobs on stage, discusses transplant
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) a" Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs returned Wednesday to the showman role that has helped define his company leadership, taking the stage for the first time since his medical leave to announce such new products as an iPod Nano that records video.
Jobs, who had a liver transplant this spring from a young adult who died in a car accident, got a vigorous standing ovation from many in the audience.
Looking thin and speaking quietly and with a scratchy voice, the 54-year-old CEO urged everyone to become organ donors.
Jobs had not appeared at such a product launch event since last October. He bowed out of his usual keynote at the yearas largest Mac trade show in January and went on leave shortly thereafter for nearly six months.
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US job openings fall to lowest level in 9 years
WASHINGTON (AP) a" Job openings fell to the lowest level in nine years in July, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday, as businesses remain reluctant to hire despite signs the economy is improving.
The departmentas Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, or JOLTS report, found that businesses and government advertised 2.4 million open positions on the last day in July, down from 2.5 million in June. Thatas also the fewest openings since the department began compiling the data in December 2000.
Still, jobs are being added in some sectors, as companies seek more health care, technology and child care workers.
The report underscores the tough competition that jobless Americans face. With 14.5 million unemployed people in July and only 2.4 million openings, that means there were six unemployed people, on average, for every job opening.
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Goldman CEO says pay backlash is aappropriatea
WASHINGTON (AP) a" After years spent raking in millions as a top executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Lloyd Blankfein said Wednesday that outsized banker pay encouraged excess and worked aagainst the public interest.a
The furor over bankersa pay after last yearas financial crisis often was aunderstandable and appropriate,a Blankfein told the Handelsblatt Banking Conference, according to remarks prepared for delivery in Frankfurt, Germany.
Blankfein agreed last spring not to take a bonus for his work in fiscal year 2008. But in 2008 he topped the list of highest-paid Wall Street executives, with a pay package totaling $42.9 million, according to an Associated Press analysis. Most of that was in the form of stocks and options awarded for his performance in 2007.
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Oil finishes higher on weakening US dollar
NEW YORK (AP) a" Oil prices finished higher for a second straight day Wednesday on continued weakening of the U.S. dollar and as investors awaited the outcome of an OPEC meeting that is expected to result in no change in production levels.
Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 20 cents to settle at $71.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after reaching as high as $72.52 earlier in the session.
On Tuesday, the contract jumped $3.08 as the dollar fell to a low for the year against the euro.
Because crude is priced in the U.S. currency, it essentially becomes cheaper when the dollar falls.
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GM considers 4 options for Germany-based Opel unit
DETROIT (AP) a" The new General Motors Co. board is weighing four options for its German-based Opel unit, including keeping the operation or letting it slide into bankruptcy protection, a person familiar with the options said Wednesday.
The 13-member board, meeting in Detroit on Wednesday, is also discussing whether it should accept bids from a consortium of Magna International Inc. and Russiaas Sberbank or a competing offer from RHJ International, a Brussels-based investment house, the person told The Associated Press.
A recommendation, which would have to be approved by the trust overseeing Opel, could come later tonight with a formal announcement Thursday.
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McDonaldas sales growth slows in August
CHICAGO (AP) a" McDonaldas Corp., the worldas largest fast-food chain, said Wednesday that its monthly sales growth began to lose steam in August, partly because it was measuring against a massive increase a year ago.
Deal-seeking customers have flocked to McDonaldas low-priced menu for the past year and the recession has marched on, which has helped propel the burger chain while more expensive sit-down restaurants have struggled.
But in August, McDonaldas sales in established restaurants rose 2.2 percent globally. The softer increase shows that the company has in part become a victim of its own success, as it compares sales figures with the same period last year when results climbed 8.5 percent.
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Obamaas mortgage relief program growing
WASHINGTON (AP) a" The Obama administrationas $50 billion mortgage relief program is finally picking up speed after a sluggish and disappointing start: Nearly early one in five eligible homeowners have been offered help so far.
The aMaking Home Affordablea plan was launched with great fanfare in March. As of last month, lenders had sent out more than 571,000 offers to reduce borrowersa monthly payments, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.
Thatas 19 percent of the nearly 3 million U.S. homeowners eligible for a loan modification under the plan, up from 15 percent at the end of July. By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 49.88, or 0.5 percent, to 9,547.22. The index has added 267 points, or 2.9 percent, in four days. It was the Dowas second-highest close of the year, just below its Aug. 27 close.
The broader Standard & Pooras 500 index gained 7.98, or 0.8 percent, to 1,033.37, while the Nasdaq composite rose 22.62, or 1.1 percent, to 2,060.39. It was the highest close for the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq since October.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 10.02, or 1.7 percent, to 586.40.
Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 20 cents to settle at $71.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after reaching as high as $72.52 earlier in the session.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery was unchanged at $1.8281 a gallon while heating oil rose 1.19 cents to $1.7944 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2.2 cents to $2.829 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose 42 cents to $69.84 on the ICE Futures exchange.